Mood Boost, Saffron Tincture

Six-dimension breakdown

Why this scored 44/100

Evergreen Apothecary Mood Boost Saffron Tincture combines St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum), passionflower, and saffron (Crocus sativus). The product description makes a specific efficacy claim that saffron is 'just as useful as medications' for ADHD — this is unverified_medical_claim territory. Individual evidence: St. John's Wort has strong evidence for mild-to-moderate depression (Cochrane 2008 review showed non-inferiority vs standard antidepressants for mild-moderate MDD) at 300 mg three times daily standardized to 0.3% hypericin (LI 160/Jarsin); saffron has real emerging evidence for mild-moderate depression at 30 mg standardized extract daily (Lopresti 2014 systematic review) and modest ADHD evidence (Baziar 2019 in children); passionflower for anxiety. THE MAJOR CONCERN: St. John's Wort has more clinically-significant drug interactions than almost any other herbal supplement — it induces CYP3A4, CYP1A2, CYP2C9, and P-glycoprotein, reducing plasma levels of oral contraceptives, warfarin, cyclosporine, digoxin, HIV antivirals, some chemotherapy agents, statins, immunosuppressants, and many antidepressants (SSRI + St. John's Wort combination has documented serotonin syndrome risk). Marketing SJW-containing products without prominent interaction warnings is inadequate. Rejected under safety_concern + unverified_medical_claim.

Evidence & sources

The Vyvata score's Evidence dimension measures the quality of published RCT support for a product's active ingredients at the label dose. Our source hierarchy: double-blind RCTs in MEDLINE-indexed journals > single-blind RCTs > open-label trials > observational studies > mechanism papers > N=1 case studies (anecdotes). Predatory journals and manufacturer-authored studies without independent replication are weighted down.

Product-specific evidence citations for this item are embedded in the analysis text on the "Analysis" tab. For the full framework and evidence hierarchy, see the methodology page.

How to read the Evidence dimension

• 80–100: Multiple double-blind RCTs in indexed journals directly testing this product OR the exact ingredients at the exact dose.
• 60–79: Single double-blind RCT + supporting ingredient literature at the studied dose.
• 40–59: Open-label trials + ingredient literature; no product-specific double-blind evidence.
• 20–39: Ingredient literature only; no product-specific trials or trials in predatory venues.
• 0–19: No credible evidence base or unverifiable claims.

FAQ data has not been generated for this product yet. See the site FAQ for general questions.

Customer reviews

All the data we have on this product

Every VSF-related metafield surfaced verbatim. Nothing hidden. If you spot data that looks wrong, let us know.

VSF score

44 / 100

Tier

Rejected

Category

Supplements

Subcategory

stress mood mental

Last scored

August 29, 2026

Third-party certifications

None on record at time of scoring

Vendor

Evergreen Apothecary

Tags

Evergreen Apothecary, Shopify Collective

Every score is set from the published rubric, audit-logged, and rescored whenever new evidence emerges (published trials, updated labels, third-party testing releases). Every vendor is scored on the same criteria — no pay-to-play. See our editorial-independence disclosure for the full policy, including brands with an editorial relationship to this site.